PickVidsBest Productivity & self-improvement Videos
The 95 Productivity & self-improvement videos here were recommended by different people across different months. Choose by who it is for: 8 introductory, 2 intermediate, 85 for a general viewer, and 0 for someone who wants the harder derivation. Most of them are a talk. What they share is that one speaker finishes a claim, and the examples exist to hold that claim up. Channels you will keep seeing include TEDx Talks, TED, CGP Grey.
Emacs Org-mode - a system for note-taking and project planning
A 2008 Google Tech Talk by the creator of Org-mode, introducing the Emacs subsystem for plain-text note-taking and project planning.
Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management
Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch gives a lecture on time management at the University of Virginia in 2007.
Do Nothing- a message of motivation from Self-help Singh- (un) motivational speaker and life coach
A short satirical 'motivational' talk by the character Self-help Singh, a sham life coach who urges viewers to do nothing.
Keep your goals to yourself | Derek Sivers
A four-minute TED talk in which Derek Sivers argues that announcing your goals can make you less likely to achieve them.
Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator | Tim Urban | TED
Tim Urban's TED talk on why people procrastinate, covering YouTube binges and Wikipedia rabbit holes.
Jeff Bezos - Regret Minimization Framework
A three-minute clip of Jeff Bezos describing his Regret Minimization Framework: imagining yourself at 80 to decide whether to leave a Wall Street job to start Amazon.
E-Ink for Productivity: An Introduction
Technology Connections gives first impressions of using an Onyx Boox Max2 e-ink tablet for productivity, including using it as an external display.
Emacs For Writers
Science writer Jay Dixit explains how he uses Emacs as a non-programmer to write, edit and research more productively.
This Is Water by David Foster Wallace Full Speech
David Foster Wallace's 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College, about the default settings of the mind, choosing what to pay attention to, and what we end up worshipping.
31 Hamming, Learning to Learn: You and Your Research, 6 June 1995
The final lecture of Richard Hamming's Learning to Learn course, from 1995, based on his well-known talk 'You and Your Research'.
Hamming, Intro to The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn (March 28, 1995)
The introductory lecture of Richard Hamming's capstone course, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn.
The Power of belief -- mindset and success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach
Eduardo Briceno gives a TEDx talk on mindset, contrasting fixed and growth views of ability.
Practical Creativity
Raph Koster's 2014 GDC Next talk on what science says about creativity, with practical steps game designers and developers can use to be more creative.
Learning from dirty jobs | Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs, shares stories from messy real-world jobs in this TED talk.
Tabs Outliner Overview
A short overview of Tabs Outliner, a Chrome extension that shows browser tabs and windows as a nestable tree.
Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen
The original music video for Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen, a spoken-word piece built on Mary Schmich's 1997 column of life advice, produced by Baz Luhrmann.
The Energy Project | Tony Schwartz | Talks at Google
Tony Schwartz of The Energy Project speaks at Google about managing energy rather than time.
Steve Jobs on Failure
A two-minute clip from a 1994 interview with Steve Jobs by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association.
Joe Rogan Experience #1080 - David Goggins
Joe Rogan interviews David Goggins, a retired Navy SEAL and ultramarathon runner, about his path from overweight to elite endurance athlete and pushing beyond comfort zones.
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address (with intro by President John Hennessy)
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement address, in which he tells three stories from his life about connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.
Here's What's Preventing You From Finishing Projects
Zack Freedman gives advice on why makers fail to finish projects, including scrapping bad ideas, showing work publicly and writing a plan that keeps projects fun.
Avoid These Words (And Not Just at Work)
Adam Savage answers viewer questions on dealing with condescending colleagues, focusing on dismissive phrases such as 'why don't you just' and 'I would have'.
Obsidian for Beginners: Start HERE — How to Use the Obsidian App for Notes
A 12-minute beginner lesson from Nick Milo's Linking Your Thinking series introducing the Obsidian note-taking app and the first steps to start using it.
5 steps to designing the life you want | Bill Burnett | TEDxStanford
TEDxStanford talk by Bill Burnett, executive director of Stanford's design program, on applying design thinking to your own life and career.